It’s the skill and timing of the Irish that enabled Siobhan Rutledge to salute on The Irish
Sunshine Coast trainer James Healy had no hesitation in booking Siobhan Rutledge on his gelding The Irish and the “omen” came off on a heavy Doomben track.
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It’s not the luck, it’s the skill and timing of the Irish that enabled rising jockey Siobhan Rutledge to salute on gelding The Irish at Doomben on Saturday.
If there was ever an omen bet for punters on a wet and cold day at the Brisbane track, this was the one, alongside $20 roughie Super Duck’s win on a bog surface in the following race.
Sunshine Coast trainer James Healy laughed at the irony of the situation, while praising Rutledge for her professionalism and willingness to follow instructions on the $16 chance in the Benchmark 78 race over 2200m on a heavy track.
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“That was Siobhan’s first ride for me, first win,” a beaming Healy said.
“I just wanted someone who I knew would give 110 per cent to the horse and listen to what I said and she rode him to an absolute tee.
“I said to her it’s an omen – the Irish on The Irish – so you can ride him.
“She’s on another horse of mine called Monastery on Wednesday (at Doomben) at 52.5 kg so hopefully she can get the same result.”
Rutledge, who turns 27 next month, said she was “having a ball” since arriving in Brisbane from Ireland in January.
“It’s a very different style of racing over here but I’m enjoying it and I’m finding everyone’s been helpful,” she said.
“It’s nice to be able to ride with the lighter weights as well.”
And she’s drawn plenty of inspiration from fellow Brisbane-based Irish jockeys Robbie Dolan, the reigning Melbourne Cup champion, and Martin Harley, who rode crack colt Cool Archie to victory in the $1m Group 1 JJ Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm last month.
“They’re the kind of guys you want to learn from when you come over, even if it’s relating things from back home to here,” Rutledge said.
“Luke Dempsey has been very helpful to me as well, as have Robbie and Martin, just explaining how things work here as opposed to back home.
“I plan to stay here indefinitely, I want to give it a really good go.
“I’m getting my heels dug in and just trying to get rides on horses with chances.
“It’s very competitive here, especially on Saturdays, but I’ve been lucky and I’ve had great support from (trainers) Gillian Heinrich and Chris and Corey Munce.”
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Rutledge said learning how to time her runs in races had been critical to her success in southeast Queensland, with the Irishwoman now having a “clock” in her head.
“If there’s anything that will stand me in good stead in the long run, I think it’s learning how to judge pace, how fast you should be going, and nearly to the second,” she said.
“Because all the gallops are timed here and they’re tracked, you can go back and revise them.
“You can remember ‘oh I was going a little too quick’ and you see that reflected on the computer.
“That’s the biggest thing I’ll take away from my experience here. It makes you have a clock in your head after several months of racing here.”
Originally published as It’s the skill and timing of the Irish that enabled Siobhan Rutledge to salute on The Irish
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